Bought a WASR-10...

[Moparmike]

I bought a WASR-10 full-cap the other day, and I am going to shoot it in a few days. I need to know if there is anything I should know.


I took it apart (except the bolt) and cleaned the assembly lube off with Mineral Spirits and Brake Cleaner.
I pulled the trigger a couple of times, didnt notice anything out of the ordinary. But, this is my first AK.


Probs:

Doesnt like my mags. I have 2 full-caps, and neither one of them likes to seat. I have to put it in juuuuust right, or it either falls out or jams in the mag well. If I do get it to seat, the mag release is a complete PITA.

Tool kit wont come apart.


Any advice?

 

[Doug S]

Congrats on purchasing the WASR 10. They are nice rifles at a reasonable price. I have two friends who recently bought these rifles & they have not had any problems. You may want to try mags from a different country of origin. I've read that certain magazines may fit differently. I've not had any problems with my SAR-1, but the WASR-10 having not originally been a hi-cap may be more finicky. I know that my friends mags have considerably more side to side wobble than my SAR mags. Otherwise it sounds like your doing fine. Give it a good once over (which it sounds like you already have), purchase a 1000 rounds of ammo & have fun.

 

[Doug S]

Oh, the tool kits can be tight. Sometimes a little rusted. You should be able to get it open with a pair of vice grips. The lid should twist & then pull upward.

 

[Tropical Z]

Im tempted by these dragunov style WASR's,but wary of what ill get.My SAR-2 was a joke and i was thrilled to see it go.Ive heard that the fit and finish on WASR's is generally better than a SAR and i cant see how it couldnt help but be.It would take a concerted effort to build something more jacked up than your average SAR.

 

[BryanP]

Moparmike,

I have mag well problems with my WASR-10 as well. Century has their problems.

Check out this link for info on the mag well problem -

http://www.gunsnet.net/Linx310/wasrwell.htm

A little search on AK-47.net turned up this thread which appears to be the thread that lead to the creation of the above page.

 

[glocksman]

Doesnt like my mags. I have 2 full-caps, and neither one of them likes to seat. I have to put it in juuuuust right, or it either falls out or jams in the mag well. If I do get it to seat, the mag release is a complete PITA.

I bought 8 mags from Centerfire and 3 of them didn't want to fit in normally because of the lip at the rear being too big. They'd eventually seat, but I had to use a lever on the mag release to get them out.

I wound up using a grinding wheel on my dremel and filed the lip down through trial and error until the mag catch would work normally.

 

[MAKOwner]

Im tempted by these dragunov style WASR's,but wary of what ill get.My SAR-2 was a joke and i was thrilled to see it go.Ive heard that the fit and finish on WASR's is generally better than a SAR and i cant see how it couldnt help but be.It would take a concerted effort to build something more jacked up than your average SAR.

Most of the crap about WASRs being any better is just that, crap. They're built on the same tooling, with the same parts (with the obvious exceptions) by the same people... How are they going to come out magically better? If you get a nice WASR it can be better than a crappy example of a SAR1, and vice versa. On whole they are the same quality wise... None I've handled and shot have been any better than my SAR1 or 2 (in fact most were noticeably worse, but I have great examples of SARs, both are 100% straight, decent finish, etc). But then again it sound like perhaps you got a lemon SAR2 or something, my SARs are great...

 

[verbatim]

I had a SAR-1 and traded it it on a WASR-10. Much better gun. Put together better, finish and wood are better, more accurate. etc., etc., etc.

Some of the older WASR-10's had the magazine problems but mine takes any I have put in it so far (Romanian, Chinese and Bulgarian). Mine is an '03 model.

The problems the poster is experiencing are normal issues. The cleaning kit is tight for a reason. Use pliers. The mag issue could be genuine, plenty of posted info here on resolving that. Or, send it back to Century to be fixed. But, I personally think it may be a user error. No offense, you just sound like you are new to AK's.

 

[Moparmike]

Yep. New to AK's.


Got to shoot it, when it took the mags. @ ~25yds, it groups high on sight setting "P", which is to be expected.

Took a look at the "burrs." Those aint burrs, them's jagged, mountainous teeth. I've seen dogs with smaller teeth. Got to get the Dremel after those. Thanks for the info!